AUTUMN...

We went to a pumpkin maze that they set up in a local greenhouse.  Asha had lots of fun climbing along the bails of hay. 

When we got home, we found hay absolutely everywhere!!!  Even in her underwear!

Daddy and Asha carved a pumpkin together to prepare for Halloween.  She had a blast using her plastic knife to help Daddy make the face on the pumpkin.

LOOK AT ME EVERYONE!!!  Check out the piece of pumpkin hanging from Asha's chin!  Too sweet!

FASHION DIVA...

Friends of ours were volunteering in the toddler room at church on Sunday.  When we went to pick up Asha after the service, our friend Amy-Jo told us how much fun Asha had dressing up and that she managed to do it all on her own with no help at all!  This was not really a surprise to us as she loves to dress up in almost anything at home.  But what really shocked us were the pictures that she emailed to us today - too cute and funny!!! 

Amy-Jo said:

I couldn't resist taking these in the toddler room on Sunday, she did this on her own. Hilarious... you can take the girl out of the Caribbean, but you cannot take the Caribbean out of the girl!

SO TRUE!!! 

 

SMARTY PANTS...

On the way home from the grocery store today, this is the conversation I had with Asha...

Asha:  Mama?
Mama:  Yes Asha.
Asha:  Asha wants a popsicle.
Mama:  Sure, sweetie.  Why don't we make supper and then have a popsicle?
Asha:  Mama, you want choc-o-lit?
Mama:  Sure, I love chocolate honey.
Asha:  Asha no like choc-o-lit Mama.
Mama:  I know honey.  How come you don't like chocolate?
Asha:  Makes me feel sick and stodgy.

I seriously laughed out loud!!!!  I couldn't believe my two year old used the word STODGY in a sentence.  The funny thing of all is that she used the word in the correct context too!

And for all of you out there who are not as smart as my two year old :), stodgy can mean: indigestible and starchy; heavy or heavy and unpalatable: said of food.

Yep, we have a baby einstein in our family!

AS SCOTT SAYS...

...WHAT HAPPENS IN VEGAS...

...STAYS ON YOUR ARM FOREVER!!!

 You guessed it!  While in Vegas I got a tattoo and I love it! 

It is a flower that is found in Asha's birth country and comes from a tree call the Cannonball Tree.  The tree is unique because each flower blooms in the morning and dies in the evening.  Also, the flowers from the tree bloom and grow from the bark of the tree instead of branches.  For me it symbolizes that although Asha didn't grow from inside my womb, she first grew in my heart.

I love that all I have to do is look down and I get an instant reminder of the journey I embarked on to become a mom.

   

THANKSGIVING...

What was I thankful for this Thanksgiving weekend?  The fact that Asha got to meet my Baba Josie.

When I was a little girl, maybe six years old or so, I told my Baba that in my life I wanted to do three things:

1. Become a teacher (I am certified and plan to work in this field once Asha is school age)
2. Marry the man of my dreams (and Scott is that and more), and;
3. Have a child and be able to be a mother

Through our struggles with infertility and then the route of adoption, I knew that if and when we did have a child, that more than anything I wanted Baba to meet our little one. 

Baba has never lived close by, but she has always had a special spot in my heart.  Baba's health has been failing and with her living in Kelowna, British Columbia, I never honestly thought Asha would get the opportunity to meet this special lady in my life.  But, my dreams came true this weekend.  Baba came here for Thanksgiving.

OOPS...NEVER TRUST THE PACKAGING...

Both Scott and I are creative and artsy.  I do scrapbooking (guess I can say I "used" to do scrapbooking as I haven't found time since Asha's been home).  I also crochet, cross stitch, make cards and more recently have taken up quilting.  Scott draws, paints and is an exceptional screenplay writer.  The arts are very important to us and so when it comes to Asha, we try as much as we can to incorportate anything creative into her day. 

Mama figured that Asha would have a blast with finger painting, so off to Walmart we went.  I knew it would be messy so I made sure to check that the paints were washable and non-toxic and I even bought a nice smock for her to wear so that her clothing would stay clean.  Well the clothes were not the issue, let me tell you!  The issue was that the paints were not in fact washable and because of that, Asha had blue lips for days!!!  Poor thing was scrubbed and scrubbed so hard that we couldn't tell if she was actually scrubbed so hard that she went blue, or that she was in fact blue from the paint color. 

 The most important thing of all...she had fun and that was all that mattered.  And our little girls hands and lips are no longer blue - which is definitely a bonus!

WHITE MAMA....BLACK BABY...

A friend of mine passed this along to me and it really spoke volumes to me.  She said:

Sometimes I have doubts about adopting transracially. I wonder if we are doing the right thing. Some say that it is not "natural" for a white family to raise a black child. They argue that there are just too many differences between the races. Having never been there, it is hard not to wonder if they are right.

Then God comforted me with the gift of this image. Even in nature, he reminded me, he gives black babies to white mamas. They are both sheep. They are exactly the same on the inside. It just so happens that the wool of one is a different color than the wool of the other. There is nothing weird or unnatural about it. They are a family, just the way that God intended.

Lord, make us a family with the child that you have called us to love. Help us to see no difference but the color of our "wool."